Ho Polytechnic gets Chinese Language Centre

Students of Ho Polytechnic and other institutions as well as residents now have the opportunity to learn the Chinese Language and explore immense opportunities offered by that country in education, culture and business.

This followed the commissioning of an Inter-cultural Chinese Language Centre at the Polytechnic on Wednesday.

The Centre, the result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Polytechnic, Loud Voices in Aid Foundation – Ghana and Step Education – China, would also serve as a Chinese Language learning Centre in West Africa, Esther Theresa Appaw-Agbola, Dean of International Programmes of the Polytechnic told reporters.

Professor Emmanuel Kodjo Sakyi, the Rector of Ho Polytechnic, said the centre was an initiative by the polytechnic to expand its international frontiers to the Asian sub-region.

He said the establishment of the centre offered opportunities for students and staff of the polytechnic to explore opportunities for further studies in China.

Mr Zhou Youbing, Political Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, expressed the hope that the centre “could provide quality service to the students to facilitate their learning and understanding of the Chinese Language.”

“I am reluctant but obliged to say, Chinese is also one of the most difficult languages to learn. It is easy to pick some words, but to fully grasp the language, you have to go through sweat and toil, just as we Chinese do in learning English,” Mr Youbing said.

“The good news is, Ghanaian students are talented and hard working,” he said, referring to the ability of Ghanaian medical students in China to master Chinese Medical terms.

Mr Francis Ganyaglo, the Deputy Volta Regional Minister, said that the proficiency in the Chinese language by Ghanaians would raise the volume of Chinese trade and investment in Ghana, deepen relations between the two countries and facilitate sustainable development.

He, therefore, advised students and young people to take advantage of the centre and reap the immense benefits to accrue from becoming proficient in that language.

Liu hui, Director of the Centre, said there were some similarities in the Chinese and Ewe languages which could make it easier for those proficient in Ewe to get on in learning the Chinese Language.

“If you can speak Ewe you can speak Chinese easily,” she said during a demonstration lesson.

Business Chinese, Chinese Scholastic Aptitude lessons and tests, Music, Art and Culture and Voluntary Exchange would be featured at the centre.

The centre would offer lessons for pupils of basic schools up to tertiary students.

Aptitude tests would be conducted for those who would opt for it at the tertiary level and scholarship would be given to those who excel to study in China.